Private Bet #10 Chapter II: Home is Where the Headaches Are.
by Shade

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and affiliates are the 
property of Rumiko Takahashi, Rifts and 
Phase World are owned by Palladium. Other 
references belong to their respective owners.
~~~~~~~~~

part 2a: Warped Reflections and a Kink in the Introspection

A nagging feeling was bothering him. It was telling him that
something had happened earlier that had the potential for a lot of trouble.

Rowan pulled out a VCR remote and hit the rewind button.(1) 

His hunch was confirmed.

�This...is Bad.�

Shadow and the Guardian exchanged looks, this was coming from 
someone who thought having every molecule in your body explode 
at the speed of light would be an interesting experience. 

Time to start worrying.

He hit the rewind button again.

 Rowan frowned slightly as he watched 
the event play again in the crystal clear water.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Rifts Earth, Egypt-
-One Year After Ranma�s Transformation

Ranma silently berated himself, he could now swear fluently 
in over twenty six different languages and right now he felt 
that he deserved each and every one of them.

He should never have let Katrina go scout ahead without him. 
Once he�d heard blaster fire he�d come running but was too late, 
her abductors had already carried her off. Probably the same 
people who had infected her with that weird bio-weapon his 
med-scanner had picked up in her bloodstream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranma had run into the amnesiac Ley Line Walker earlier during the 
Gathering of Heroes, the two of them had been assigned to the 
same task force shortly thereafter. Their group was going after 
the demonic entity Pestilence, hoping to stop it before it 
could join War, Famine, and Death. If they failed, all life on this 
planet would die when the demons remerged with each other into 
the Armageddon Beast.

 So far they had been successfully trailing the monster,
 following its path of desolation and death. 
Every plant within five miles had been devoured down 
to the roots by voracious insects. Disease and starvation 
killed those unfortunate souls who were not immediately 
consumed by the ravenous billions of locusts, flies, ants, 
and termites that served the Demon..

None of those who had seen the atrocities commited had reacted 
more strongly the Ranma and Katrina Sun. Both swore to avenge 
the fallen people, human and D-Bee(2) alike. From their shared 
sense of justice the beginnings of a deep mututal respect were formed. 
In Katrina Ranma had found the big sister he�d never had, her distress 
over her lack of memory also brought out his protective side. 

Katrina on the other hand initially considered Ranma a brash 
and foolhardy boy, her assessment quickly 
changed after seeing him in combat for the first time.

After seeing Ranma take out a entire squad of Phoenix Empire 
power armors by himself, she found herself forced to consider 
that she might be wrong.

A warm shoulder to cry on during the nights that her 
gap-ridden memory tormented her completed her change in her attitude toward 
him. Despite his tendancy to somehow always know the wrong thing to say,
 Katrina found herself warming up to the kind and sincere heart behind 
Ranma�s rough edges. Her attempts to teach him some manners had won 
laughs from both of them as well as their comrades. No matter how 
hard Ranma tried he could never last more then an hour at most before
sticking his foot in his mouth. 
~~~~~~~~~

He�d lost many friends before.

{Not this time! I�m not losing another one.
 Either I bring her back to the camp safe and sound.......}

Ranma�s eys narrowed in determination.

{....Or I�ll die trying!!}
~~~~~~~~

Sneaking into the pyramid had been the hard part.
Tracking the kidnappers had been relatively easy, it helped when
you could move faster then any vehicle on the planet.

The outer perimeter was bristling with alarms and sentries, 
both magical and technological in nature. He�d been forced 
to crawl through the sand to avoid the nearly invisible beams he 
knew were scanning for any sign of moment. An unlucky fox 
had shown that the beams also served a more sinister purpose.

The desiccated husk of what had once been living flesh rattled 
eerily as the harsh desert wind swept through it. It sounded like 
the wail of a soul being devoured alive.

 Ranma was once again grateful that he was no longer
 just a normal human, otherwise he�d never have been 
able to pull it off.

Once he�d gone down far enough Ranma had just kept going 
straight until he hit the foundation of the pyramid. A carefully 
aimed Cosmic Blast later and he was inside. 

The place reeked of evil.

Ranma gagged silently, it was as if the very stones 
were oozing corruption. When this was over he was going 
to take a long bath and do his best to scrub away this place�s 
vileness from his skin. Ranma hoped he could find Kat soon, 
he didn�t want to stay in this foul darkness a moment longer 
then he had to.

Quickly he inspected the tomblike interior,
 it seemed deserted and was oddly quiet.

Too quiet.

Where were the defenses?

A hiss of escaping air reached his ears.

Ranma instinctively leapt up, trusting his 
finely honed danger sense .

{Damn, I should know better then to ask something like that!}

>From his clutchhold on the ceiling Ranma looked down.

{Poisoned armor piercing darts(3). 
Ouch. Not something I want to experience first hand.}

Cautiously Ranma descended back to the floor, being sure 
to avoid the area the darts had sprung from. No telling where 
the trigger was, best to just leave it alone and hope nobody 
would notice until later.

No other traps greeted him but Ranma still kept a careful eye out 
for any more unpleasant surprises as he snuck down the corrider.
~~~~~~~~~~

Something was wrong here.

He was being played for a sucker.

Ranma hated that. He really, really 
disliked being led around by the nose.

It was simply too easy.... 

Even with a fully charged M-80 
laser rifle in hand Saotome felt uneasy.

It was as if an unseen presence was watching his 
every move and laughing at him.

A moment later he entered the main room in the heart of the pyramid.

The darkness was suddenly obliterated by the flash 
of light that lit the room. Ranma froze, his eyes adjusting to 
the sudden brightness.

The sound of a pair of hands clapping broke the dramatic silence.

�Well done, your antics to enter my base were very amusing.�

Across the room from Ranma stood two dozen humanoids in 
worn NGR body armor surrounding a pale bleeding Katrina. She 
had not gone down without a fight. The various cuts and laser burns 
looked extremely painful. Despite her injuries a pained smile 
crossed her face at the sight of Ranma.

�You idiot. Now we�re both in trouble.�

Ranma shrugged.

�I�m always in trouble. One more time won�t hurt.�

Although the guards were now leveling a variety of assorted 
black market weapons at him Ranma was more concerned 
about the Thing that seemed to be in charge of them.

He radiated an aura of black power, many times stronger 
then anything Ranma had ever faced before. The being was 
similar to a man, except it was about four feet taller and had 
a jackel�s head. His presence practically screamed Evil 
Incarnate. Ranma hated him on sight.

�Release her, now.� Ranma leveled his rifle at the Boss Villain.

A number of red targeting lasers instantly appeared on Ranma�s forehead.

Ranma wasn�t worried much, they were using lasers, particle beams 
and a few ion rifles. No sweat, even the plasma mini-missile launcher 
wasn�t anything to get worked up over. Unfortunately Katrina wasn�t 
as durable as he was, as long as she was hostage he didn�t dare risk 
a firefight. there was too much of a chance of a stray shot hitting her. 
Right now she looked like the next hit she took would be her last.

�You have the nerve to challenge the almighty Set on his own ground?! 
I must admit that you have courage warrior, though you lack wits. Only 
fools and the mad would dare to point a weapon at me when the merest 
word to my servants would see you blown to pieces.�

�Not before I put a nice pot hole in that overinflated poodle head of yours jerk.�

Set inhaled sharply, nearly giving the order to fire in a sudden rush of 
anger that filled him at this human�s words. The evil God calmed quickly though, 
there was a power within this boy, a power that would soon be his 
to control with the proper...inducement. A proper vengence for those 
insults could wait...for now.

He gestured to his guards, at his command the troops all aimed their 
weapons at Katrina.

{Shit!}
He was good but he wasn�t that good. He�d get eight, maybe 
ten of them if he was lucky. That still left over a dozen guns 
aimed at Kat, all it would take was one shot. A Cosmic Blast 
would clear them all out but he couldn�t use one without hitting 
Katrina

Bluff raised and called.

Reluctantly Ranma lowered the muzzle of his weapon.

Set smiled, he so enjoyed tormenting these so-called heroes. 
They were so pathetic with their concern for others, a fatal 
weakness that he could so easily exploit. The Light�s compassion 
would always be its undoing to the forces of Darkness.

�Violence will avail you nothing here, although a mutual 
agreement might.....persuade me to spare your friend�s life.�

�What do want?� 

He was still a little innocent but even Ranma wasn�t that naive.
He also knew that Set was lying through his teeth 
and would doublecross him as soon as the God 
got what he wanted. But Ranma didn�t have any other alternatives.

The Villain pointed to an area by Ranma�s right side where 
a previously unnoticed stone table sat. Upon its scarred features 
rested a innocent looking vial of sparkly golden liquid.

�I promise you that it�s not poisonous. 
All you have to do is drink it and she�s all yours.�

Set smiled, what he didn�t mention was that the potion 
was supposed to change the imbiber into the exact 
opposite of what they were as well as making the person 
a utterly loyal slave.

Ranma�s gaze hardened. He smelled a rat here.

�How do I know you�ll keep your word?�

�I am a God, there is no greater guarantee than my word.�

{Yeah right!}

Ranma picked up the bottle and swirled it around a little,
 he couldn�t identify any of the liquid�s ingredients. It was
almost syrupy in texture, but oddly enough there was no 
sediment at the bottom of the vial.

He popped the cover and sniffed it.

There was minty lime scent wafting up from it.

Ranma noticed that Set was watching him closely now.

{Why�s he so interested in getting me to drink this?}

�Well? Are you going to drink or must my minions spill more 
of this fair maiden�s blood?�

�Alright already! I�ll do it.�

{Oh well. Bottoms up!}

Ranma closed his eyes tightly and gulped the potion down.
He braced himself for whatever effects the potion would have.

{....Kinda tastes like fresh butter. It�s not bad though.....}

He didn�t feel any different, just a weird tingling sensation all 
over his body like a minor itch. Ranma was still trying to figure 
out what the liquid was supposed to do to him when Katrina 
was pushed into him all of a sudden.

�Now kill her slave!! Tear her apart!!!� 

The Jackel God was exultant, his most hated foe would be 
slain by her friend�s hands and she didn�t even recognize him.
The sadistic irony was so delicious, he would enjoy listening to 
the Goddess�s screams.

Ranma blinked. Then he smirked at the baffled Set.

�Forget it.�

�IMPOSSIBLE!!! You dare to defy ME??! KILL THEM BOTH!!�

Energy beams crisscrossed the room as the guards and Ranma 
simultaneously opened fire.
Ranma shielded Katrina with his body, the light 
suit of body armor he was wearing was almost completely destroyed 
within the first thirty seconds of the battle. At the same time 
his M-80 Laser Rifle roared, a dragon�s blast of red fire. 

The first shot cut through the stonework over Set�s head, burying him in 
the rocks. One, then two, then three of the guards fell back, s
teaming holes in their chests. A fourth screamed as the beam
passed through its arms, severing them cleanly at the elbow. 
The sixth shot decapitated his target, the headless body continuing to fire 
until it finally fell to the ground. The rest of the group finally 
realized their predicament and scrambled for cover, their wild shots
striking the walls and the ceiling more often then hitting Ranma.

Taking the opportunity presented he fired a few more shots in
 their general direction, more intended to keep them from firing 
back then to actually hit anyone.
Ranma could kill, but he preferred not to.

Clad only in the tattered remains of his clothes now, the rest of his garments
just molten scraps of plastic and metal Ranma picked up Katrina and 
dropped his gun to the floor. He pointed his free hand at the wall next to them.

�Better shield your eyes Kat, the real fireworks are about to go off.�
 
�Who are you Ranma??!�

�If we survive this I promise to explain everything.�

As soon as he saw her shut her eyes Ranma fired a Cosmic Blast at the 
stone wall. The sheer brilliance of it temporarily blinded the guards that had 
the misfortune of looking in that direction. A moment later a fresh 
gaping hole leading to the outside of the pyramid had been made. 

Ranma grabbed his rifle from the floor along the way 
as he carried Katrina and flew out to the open blue sky.

�I believe you owe me an explanation Saotome.�

�Uh...it�s a long story.�

�I have time.�

�Well you see it all started at this place called Jusenkyo...�
~~~~~~~~~

At the temple the Dark God finally freed himself from the 
stony imprisonment.

His canine eyes burned red with rage.

Set would have revenge for this insult!

�RANMA I WILL KILL YOU IF IT�S THE LAST THING I DO!!!�
~~~~~~~~~~~

�Aiyah. What a mess.�

�What was that potion anyway?

Rowan fastforwarded to the scene where 
Ranma had a talk with Thoth.

Apperently the potion had been one of his 
creations and had been stolen by the Jackel God.
However it wasn�t quite what Set had thought it was.

�Potion of Universal Compatibility????�

�Uh oh......�

�You mean....?�

�Let�s put it this way, it gives a whole new 
meaning to inter-racial romance.�

�In other words if it�s female and fertile........oh boy.�

(To be continued)

   *$*$*$*$*$*$* 
   (1) What did you expect? Since they don�t have 
   the power of a deity they have to rely on cheesy devices instead. 

   (2) D-Bee: Rifts slang for Dimensional Being. 
   Basically a humanoid from a different dimension. 

   (3)How did he know it was poisoned? 
   He could smell it, apparently the 
   toxin was a distant relative of Akane's cooking. 

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